State Nuclear Power Technology Corp – a nuclear company backed by the Chinese government – is in talks to invest $10 billion in the abandoned Horizon nuclear power project in Britain.
Horizon, previously a joint venture between German companies E.ON and RWE, planned to build up to three nuclear reactors at Wylfa in Anglesey and three more at Oldbury in Gloucestershire. However, last month, the companies backed out of the project citing financial reasons. Since then, the UK has been looking for a different company to take control of the project.
China's State Nuclear is in talks about joining forces with Japan’s Toshiba – which owns Westinghouse – the reactor designer formerly owned by the UK government. Over time, the tie-up could be worth $60 billion (£37 billion), sources said.
If the talks succeed, the UK government still has to approve any new entrant to the UK nuclear market.
“The UK welcomes inward investment to our energy sector but any bid for UK energy assets is and would be, subject to rigorous scrutiny through the established regulatory process,” a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.
Russian company Rosatom Corp also expressed an interest in Horizon.